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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786623">no matter how far i fall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenhyung/pseuds/jenhyung'>jenhyung</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>runner boy and his cup [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Virtually No Angst), Author Had Too Much Coffee, Drabble, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, No Plot/Plotless</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:48:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,471</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786623</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenhyung/pseuds/jenhyung</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Lee Jeno, Lee Jeno–looks like someone’s here for you!”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>runner boy and his cup [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/956448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>274</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>no matter how far i fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy birthday to (rbahc) jeno! </p><p>(not beta-ed, not proofread, a lot of no plot sorry)</p><p>(this is set before they graduate and go off to college (so before 'give a little time to me'!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I have to go.”</p><p>Donghyuck peers from over the top of his canvas, cheeks dusted with dried paint, “What?”</p><p>“Got plans,” Renjun says shortly, untying his olive green artists’ apron and hooking it over the edge of his easel, careful not to let it touch his painting. He runs both hands through his hair, suddenly overwhelmed, “Oh my god.”</p><p>“What is going on with you?” Donghyuck asks, slipping of his chair and approaching Renjun with a cautious look. He glances at Renjun’s canvas–a hyper realistic oil painting of Robert Downey Jr.–and notes that it’s very much far from finished, “You know this is due next week, don’t you?”</p><p>“Yes, yes,” Renjun mumbles. He regains his motor skills and scoops his backpack off the linoleum floor, shoving his bottle and a couple of folders into it carelessly. Zipping it up, he takes a deep breath, “I–have plans.”</p><p>Donghyuck raises his brows, “Clearly. Are you coming back?”</p><p>“Er,” Renjun glances around his workspace, makes sure he hasn’t left anything behind. When he’s doubly sure that his phone and wallet are on his person, he breathes again, “No.”</p><p>“But we just got here–”</p><p>“Sorry, Hyuck!” Renjun is already backpedaling out of the art studio, doing his best not to bump into anyone else’s final year project. He waves cheerily, despite Donghyuck’s look of confusion crossed disgruntlement, “But it’s Jeno’s birthday and–well, I promised!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Renjun finds Jeno waiting for him by the athletics’ center. It’s not hard to spot his boyfriend–<em>boyfriend!–</em>amongst the rest of the track team, not when Jeno’s smile practically has him radiating from miles away with stars and glitter and all things adorable. Renjun’s heart is already going a thousand beats a second, the highs of his cheeks turning cold from losing all that blood to wherever it is blood goes when he gets nervous.</p><p>Nervous.</p><p>It’s been a little over an entire year since they’ve–stopped being friends, since they’ve become more of a collective noun between their friends. It’s been a little over a year of hand-holding Renjun’d never dreamed of, of kisses he’d never thought Jeno would give (or want), of times where it’s just them two and nothing else matters.</p><p>Days hidden in Renjun’s bedroom or at Jeno’s when his mother was still working away, snuggled up on the couch to go through their list of movies they’ve been religiously adding to, growing it day by day. Days where Jeno insisted to taste Renjun’s cooking and they’d take long trips to the groceries together–finding all sorts of ways to simply <em>be </em>together for as long as time will let them–then having Renjun whip up something while Jeno watched from not all that far away. Days when all they wanted to do was take a walk in one of the parks nearby, hands and shoulders brushing, sneaking kisses when the path was empty, sharing secrets under the shades of evergreen.</p><p>Dates, dates, <em>dates</em>.</p><p>Renjun remembers them all.</p><p>To the amusement park they had to take three connecting buses to, and realizing only after they got there that they could’ve saved time and money by taking the speed train instead; to the cat café on 76<sup>th</sup> Street where Jeno refused to leave even after four hours and losing both their wallets combined to buying cat treats; to the national garden where Jeno insisted they could make it around the entire park on a <em>leisurely </em>jog of only eleven miles (Renjun gave up and Jeno bought them ice cream to save the day).</p><p>Everything.</p><p>More than he’s ever known about Jeno, more than he could ever know if he were just a mere friend–they learn more and more about each other, about themselves, about them as a team, and Renjun knows it could only get better.</p><p>Never in his life has he felt like this, he can’t even put it into words fit to describe the feeling.</p><p>Nervous. Excited. Butterflies in his stomach, fireworks in his chest, warmth to his fingertips–whip out a thesaurus but whatever it is, Renjun feels <em>it</em> for Jeno.</p><p>But in a month, they’ll graduate. They’ll graduate and maybe they’ll go down different paths, or maybe Jeno will take up a sports scholarship from a university out of state, or maybe Renjun will consider going to a university overseas–in a month, things will change, and Renjun doesn’t want them to.</p><p>High school has and will always be a bubble Renjun will never want breaking. There’s so much uncertainty in the future, so much they don’t know–he wants time to stop. He wants time to just stop for a second. Give him another year of dates they get to have after extracurriculars, another year of running between classes to sneak Jeno bread in the morning, another year of Jeno crashing their art studio sessions.</p><p>More time, Renjun wants more time.</p><p>He knows there’s more after this, there’s more after graduating high school. They’re so young, so, <em>so, </em>young, they’ve more than half their lives to love, but what if they don’t?</p><p>Time passes too fast.</p><p>Everything now–it’s fleeting, almost.</p><p>“Lee Jeno, Lee Jeno–looks like someone’s here for you!”</p><p>Renjun barely has the time to wipe the lovelorn expression from his face when Jeno is spinning on his heels, grin impossibly wide when their gazes meet. He’s bats away the team’s obnoxious teasing and abundance of gross kissy faces, rolling his eyes as he walks away from the lot of them to step before Renjun, greedy hands already on Renjun’s waist.</p><p>“I could wait,” Renjun says, fully aware of how the longing in his voice betrays him. He touches Jeno’s elbow and it’s <em>electrifying</em>, “if you wanted to spend more time–with your team, I could wait.”</p><p>“I think I’ve spent enough time with them today,” Jeno laughs, nose scrunching in a way that makes Renjun need a few extra gulps of air. He huddles Renjun away from the continuous jeers of the track team, “Let’s get out of here?”</p><p>Renjun can only nod, “Let’s get out of here.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It’s Renjun’s turn to plan their date this time, which works well considering it <em>is </em>Jeno’s birthday.</p><p>“We don’t have to do anything special,” Jeno had said some weeks ago, when they were huddled up on Renjun’s bed. They had been watching some shabby TV drama, one Jeno had suggested they watch for fun, but it’s been unexpectedly riveting and they’ve both vowed to finish the series.</p><p>Renjun had dismissed Jeno, curling Jeno’s arms around himself and laying his arms atop them, “You don’t get to decide because<em>I’m </em>planning it, now–shush, she’s going to kill her husband.”</p><p>“So,” Jeno says now. They’re out on the sidewalk and under the blazing afternoon sun, their hands swinging between them, fingers tangled together, “What do you have planned for my big day?”</p><p>“Wow, talk about no pressure,” Renjun snorts. He tugs Jeno close enough to kiss him chastely on the cheek, “I might have a couple of things planned, I suppose.”</p><p>“Oh?” Jeno’s lips curl devilishly. Renjun feels it in his gut. “And I don’t suppose you’ll be telling me where we’re going?”</p><p>“We’re going to eat.” Renjun laughs when Jeno rolls his eyes at the intentional lack of specificity, “Alright, alright–we’re going to have Chinese food.”</p><p>Jeno makes a little <em>o </em>with his lips, “I’m actually starving, now that you’ve mentioned it.”</p><p>“You always are after training,” Renjun points out. “You just don’t notice it.”</p><p>“And you do?” Jeno grins, yanking Renjun close and bringing their faces as close as can be. Their noses brush, and Renjun almost goes cross-eyed from trying to glare at Jeno, “You notice me, hm?”</p><p>Renjun elbows Jeno away, but keeps the distance between them small, “Of course, I do.” He presses his cheek to Jeno’s shoulder, “If I don’t feed you, who will?”</p><p>“You make me sound like a pig.” Jeno reaches over to cup Renjun’s cheek, holding Renjun still as he moves to kiss Renjun on the forehead, “Should you be making fun of me on my birthday?”</p><p>“If I recall, you pretended to forget <em>my </em>birthday until I–”</p><p>“That was Donghyuck’s either and you know it,” Jeno groans. He shakes Renjun free to wrap his arms around Renjun’s waist instead, their bodies flush from hip to shoulder, “And you’ve already said you’d forgiven me for it, so you can’t use it against me anymore!”</p><p>“Alright, alright,” Renjun bumps playfully into Jeno’s side, smiles when the taller boy casts him a sour look, “I’ll let you off just because it’s your birthday today.”</p><p>Jeno’s retort is lost because Renjun slips free, quickening his steps up to the Chinese restaurant. He hears Jeno squawk at being left behind but it only makes Renjun giggle, barely collecting himself before the elderly lady by the front cashier notices him.</p><p><em>It’s you again Injun-ah! </em>She greets in Mandarin, sliding the cash drawer shut and moving to take Renjun’s hands in her own, <em>It’s been a while since the last I’ve seen you!</em></p><p><em>Ah yes, auntie, </em>Renjun nods, fluent in return, <em>We’ve been busy with school so there hasn’t been much time for us to come by.</em></p><p>Only then does she notice Jeno’s presence behind Renjun, awkwardly crouching forward as if he truly believed he could be hidden. She clasps her hands together and begins her the whirlwind of compliments she never fails to fluff Jeno up with. Renjun hides a smile when Jeno’s face turns a bright red, nodding along at her words and understanding none of it.</p><p>They’re finally ushered to a secluded table by the corner of the restaurant, oddly familiar and lit with plastic lanterns that drown them in a red-orange tinge. Jeno manages to fend off the spew of gushes and compliments for long enough to take the seat across Renjun, looking increasingly nervous as she continues to ramble on.</p><p>She finally relents to tell Renjun warmly, <em>Let me know when you’re ready to order, alright? </em></p><p>Renjun nods and thanks her again for her kindness, waiting at least until she’s out of sight before he collapses onto the table in a fit of giggles.</p><p>“Ha ha, very funny,” Jeno deadpans. He flicks Renjun’s arm, “Did you bring me here just so you could watch me flail in embarrassment?”</p><p>“No, but that was an added plus,” Renjun says, still wheezing to get his breath back. He sighs heavily, pleased at having Jeno turn a cute pink from being coddled, and flips the menu open, skimming through the new menu of Summer specials.</p><p>“I want that brown rice thing we always get,” Jeno requests, already forgetting about the ambush he was just a victim of. Under the table, he hooks their ankles together, “And dumplings.”</p><p>“One basket or two?” Renjun looks up when Jeno doesn’t answer, understanding the hesitance, “Yes, I am paying–no, we’re not going dutch. It’s your birthday.”</p><p>“Then one.”</p><p>Renjun licks his lips, “Two then.”</p><p>“Jun–”</p><p>“Whine all you want, baby,” Renjun shrugs, “You’re not getting your way today.”</p><p>“But it’s <em>my </em>birthday,” Jeno argues. He fiddles with his chopsticks, prodding at Renjun’s hand with the end of one, “Shouldn’t I get to decide who’s paying?”</p><p>“No,” Renjun says simply. <em>The cold tofu looks</em> <em>good</em>, he thinks, already turning out Jeno’s whining. He’s been logging a few extra shifts as a part-time cashier position at the art hardware store lately and he’s saved up more than enough for today alone, “Do you want noodles too? The spicy ones you like?”</p><p>Jeno juts out his lower lip, “Yes.”</p><p>Renjun waves a waitress over and closes the menu, sighing when he notices that Jeno hasn’t eased off on his pitiful-puppy-please-let-me-pay-for-lunch agenda, “It’s your birthday so I’m babying you. And I <em>am</em> older than you, so no more arguing over this.”</p><p>Jeno defies with a loud sigh but says no more on the matter. He nods along patiently as Renjun orders, mumbling a soft <em>thank you </em>when the waitress takes her leave.</p><p>“Before I tell you what we’re doing for the rest of the day,” Renjun reaches across the table for Jeno’s pinky finger, holding it in his hand, “Is there anything you wanted to do today?”</p><p>Jeno takes a moment to consider it seriously. “No,” he says eventually, “I want to do what you have planned.”</p><p>Renjun’s heart stutters, and he scoffs to mask the absolute rush of love that threatens to close his throat, “Well, I’m glad then because I don’t think we’d have time to do anything else–”</p><p>Jeno narrows his eyes, “Interested.”</p><p>“–because it’ll take all night and–”</p><p>“<em>More </em>interested.” Jeno cackles evilly when Renjun reaches across the table to smack his boyfriend, “I’m just kidding! I’m kidding!” He leans forward when the giggles finally fade away, eyes near sparkling as he asks, “What did you have planned?”</p><p>“I–bought us tickets to see <em>The Lion King</em>.” Renjun clarifies when Jeno tilts his head in confusion, “As in, the musical. <em>The Lion King </em>musical, since I thought–you know, it’s your favorite movie.”</p><p>Jeno, for a few seconds, is silent. Renjun waits patiently until Jeno’s blinking, “You–what?”</p><p>“I got us tickets,” Renjun repeats, a little louder this time, though he’s sure Jeno’d heard him the first time. He starts to smile, feeling his own excitement take the reins, “To see <em>The Lion King</em>. Tonight. And I already checked in with your mother, she told us to have fun so,” he trails off.</p><p>Jeno’s lips fall apart, “You got us tickets to Lion King?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Renjun says, voice soft. He’d been planning it for weeks now–they’d have lunch together, pop home for a change of clothes, then have the night out to themselves to watch their first musical together. His hands grapple for Jeno’s, laughing a little when he finds them to be clammy, “Happy birthday, Jeno.”</p><p>And suddenly Jeno is out of his seat, lunging across the table to throw his arms around Renjun’s shoulders tightly, not caring about the fact that they’re in a restaurant full of people or the possibility of the table toppling over. Renjun chokes on a breath, standing to meet Jeno halfway; he curls his hands around Jeno’s waist, patting Jeno on the back, “I’m going to take it that you’re happy?”</p><p>Jeno pulls away, frenzied almost, “Happy? Jun, I–I–are you <em>kidding</em>? I’ve been wanting to see that for months!”</p><p>“I know,” Renjun hums, tucking a tuft of hair behind Jeno’s ear. He lets his hand linger for a moment, “I wanted to surprise you.”</p><p>“You–did! Of course, you did,” Jeno shakes his head, still in disbelief.</p><p>He’d been talking about wanting to go ever since the cast started doing shows in the city; <em>The Lion King </em>has always been Jeno’s go-to movie to watch whenever he was sick, whenever he was sad–it’s been Jeno’s favorite movie ever since he was a child and the ratty Simba doll on his shelf was a clear sign he’d held the movie close to his heart.</p><p>Renjun knew it was a chance he had to take.</p><p>“But how–how–they’re sold out?” Jeno’s brows furrow, “I know they are; I just checked the website like two days ago.”</p><p>“I have a cousin who works down at the theatre,” Renjun says, unable to keep the grin off his face. He’s always happy when Jeno’s happy, “She scored me tickets and I promised I’d return her the favor.”</p><p>“Jun, I don’t even know–” Jeno’s hands are on either sides of Renjun’s face then, frowning as he squishes Renjun’s cheeks, “I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too,” Renjun mumbles, gently lifting Jeno’s hands off him and motioning for them to sit back down. They’d already caused so much of a ruckus, Renjun didn’t want them standing around when the food was served, “I was worried you were going to find a way to see it before I got to take you.”</p><p>“Not going to happen,” Jeno affirms. Renjun lets him twine their fingers together, “I would’ve asked you to come with me if I managed to get tickets, Jun.” He inhales sharply, “Oh my god, we’re watching Lion King tonight.”</p><p>Renjun squeezes their hands, “I’m glad you like the gift then, baby.”</p><p>“Of course, I like it,” Jeno brings their hands to his cheek, resting it against the back of Renjun’s hand, “I love it. I love you, I can’t believe you even remembered that I wanted to watch it–I think I’ve only mentioned it once, haven’t I?”</p><p>“My head’s just full of Jeno-facts,” Renjun says sarcastically, despite the brutal honesty in that statement. Jeno takes up so much of his heart and mind, there’s no way he would let something as huge as this slip, “And I wanted to do something special for you for your birthday.”</p><p>“You know I’d be happy doing anything with you, Jun,” Jeno murmurs, kissing the back of Renjun’s hand. Renjun stops the shiver from running down his spine when Jeno looks up at him, “Even if we went home right now and did nothing, I would’ve loved it just as much.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>Renjun blushes madly when Jeno kisses his knuckles. The warmth in his cheeks spreading quickly down his neck and flaring across his shoulders. He leans across the table and guides Jeno’s lips to his, unable to wait any longer. It’s a brief kiss, the soft press of Jeno’s plush lips against his–Renjun’s heart is taken away.</p><p>“I love you,” Renjun blurts out, when Jeno’s not two inches from his face. Jeno opens his mouth, but Renjun rambles on, “I mean–I really love you, Jeno. Like sometimes I feel like my chest is going to–to crack open because I love you so much and I–can’t contain it.” Renjun stares at Jeno’s lips, unable to look his boyfriend in the eye, words spilling free, “And sometimes I–I think about when we graduate next month and there’s so little time, and I think about going to university together, and I just hope we’ll be together even through then because I really don’t know what to do if you–”</p><p>“Renjun.”</p><p>That’s enough to have the words stick to Renjun’s throat, and he braves to meet Jeno’s eyes. He doesn’t get to hold it for long because Jeno is kissing him again and his eyes are screwed shut. Renjun pours the words he can’t say into the kiss, wishing Jeno would hear him and wishing Jeno wouldn’t either. He holds onto Jeno’s hand tight, kisses a little harder to ground himself again.</p><p>“I love you too,” Jeno whispers against his lips. He knocks his forehead to Renjun’s, “I love you and I know. I know change is scary and it’s around the corner, but you can count on me–I’m going to be here, every step of the way.”</p><p>Renjun melts, “Jeno–”</p><p>“Even after we’re long out of high school, even when you’re done with your final art project, and even when I’ve run my last race on the track–Renjun, I will be here,” Jeno promises. He breaks into a smile, one Renjun can’t help but return, “I love you too, you know?”</p><p>“I know,” Renjun murmurs, believing it so.</p><p>They break apart when Renjun notices the waitress approach them, expertly carrying a tray of dishes with one hand. She sets them down and bids them a good meal, bowing slightly before walking off. If she’d noticed anything about the way Jeno’s eyes can leave Renjun’s, she does a fine job of hiding it.</p><p>“I love you,” Jeno says again, as if he’d thought Renjun hadn’t heard. He kisses Renjun’s hand again, “I am very much in love with you, Huang Renjun.”</p><p>Renjun chews on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from imploding on the spot, “I love you too, Jeno.”</p><p>“And whatever happens a month from now,” Jeno releases him in favor of picking up Renjun’s chopsticks to hand them to him, “It’s going to be you and me, isn’t it?”</p><p>“It is,” Renjun nods, taking the chopsticks from Jeno. He picks a dumpling and rests it on Jeno’s spoon, “We’ll have time.”</p><p>“We will,” Jeno does the same, shakily leaving a meat-filled dumpling in Renjun’s bowl. He grins when Renjun thanks him, “But more than that, we have now. We have today.”</p><p>Renjun blinks.</p><p>“You and me.”</p><p>Jeno, Jeno, <em>Jeno,</em></p><p>Renjun can’t breathe, he’s sure his heart’s no longer beating.</p><p>“We have this lunch and we have the musical tonight and we have this time together. We have now, and I–” Jeno bites on his lip, “I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend it with, Renjun.”</p><p>And to that, Renjun knows there’s no one else he’d rather spend now with either.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>find me i'm <a href="https://twitter.com/jenhyungs">trash</a></p><p> </p><p>the series seriously needed an update and my pea-sized brain decided to bust this out so here we have it . title also has no relation to the plot because there's no plot lol</p></blockquote></div></div>
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